Officer Career

An active duty officer of the Armed Forces is an Albanian citizen who has completed higher military education at the country and abroad, or the Albanian citizen who has completed higher civilian education, and the respective military course, not less than one year at the Military Academy, who swears the military oath, and is commissioned as such by order of the Minister of Defence.

The military ranks for officers in the Armed Forces are classified into low, high, and highest ones. For officers commissioned as active duty officers, the ranks are:

 

Level of Designation	Land/Air Force, Type of rank	Navy Force, Type of rank
Highest rank	Lieutenant General	Vice Admiral
	Major General	Rear Admiral (Upper Half)
	Brigadier General	Rear Admiral (Lower Half)
High rank	Colonel	Captain
	Lieutenant Colonel	Commander
	Major	Lieutenant Commander
Low rank	Captain	Lieutenant
	First Lieutenant	Lieutenant Junior Grade
	Second Lieutenant	Ensign

 

Minimal and maximal time in a rank until promotion to the next rank is as follows:

Rank Land/Air Force	Rank Navy Force	Rank's min/max period of time
Second Lieutenant	Ensign	3 years/6 years
First Lieutenant	Lieutenant Junior Grade	4 years/8 years
Captain	Lieutenant	5 years/15 years
Major	Lieutenant Commander	4 years/22 years
Lieutenant Colonel	Commander	5 years/27 years
Colonel	Captain	4 years/30 years
Brigadier General	Rear Admiral (Lower Half)	3 years/33 years
Major General	Rear Admiral (Upper Half)	3 years/35 years
Lieutenant General	Vice Admiral	/35 years

The commissioning as active duty officer and granting of the first rank to an officer is carried out by order of the Minister of Defence. The rank of second lieutenant is granted to students who complete higher military education in military academies in the country and abroad, equalized to them, and are commissioned as active duty officers. Military ranks from second lieutenant/ensign to colonel/captain are granted by order of the Minister of Defence, under career commissions’ proposals. The highest ranks are granted to officers by decree of the President of the Republic, and by proposal of the Minister of Defence.

The military officer is eligible for next promotion when he/she meets the following criteria:

a) Time limit in a certain rank;
b) Required education and qualification in military and civilian schools and courses;
c) Annual work performance results.

Officers, candidates for promotion, are eligible to be appraised and evaluated by the career and ranks’ commissions for each rank as below:

a) Officers at the rank of First Lieutenant/Lieutenant Junior Grade through colonel/captain twice;
b) Officers at the rank of Brigadier General and above only once.

Education and qualification criteria to receive the rank are:

 

Current rank	Next rank	Qualification	Duration
Second Lieutenant/Ensign	First Lieutenant/Lieutenant Junior Grade	Basic Course	6-9 months
First Lieutenant/Lieutenant Junior Grade	Captain/Lieutenant	Advanced Officer Course (AOC)	4-6 months
Captain/Lieutenant	Major/Lieutenant Commander	Basic Staff OfficerCourse (BSOC)	3 months
Major/Lieutenant Commander	Lieutenant Colonel/Commander	Functional Course Command and General Staff Course (CGSC)	2 months 1 year
Lieutenant Colonel/Commander	Colonel/Captain	Senior Officer Course (SOC)	1 year
Colonel/Captain	General/Admiral	Senior Security and Defense Course (SSDC)	-